Tanya Gurtin, Africa product manager at Viva Expeditions, says the destination gives travellers something completely outside the usual safari experience.
‘Whether someone is building a trip entirely around the island or adding it on for a few days after Botswana or South Africa, it changes the rhythm of the journey. There’s nothing else in Africa quite like it,’ Gurtin adds
Viva Expeditions offers a range of Madagascar itineraries, from an eight-day northern highlights tour to an 18-day small group exploration covering the island’s cities, rainforests and coastlines.
Tracy Davidson, Viva Expeditions’ Africa specialist, travelled to Madagascar last year and says the wildlife alone makes for an easy sell to clients who think they’ve already done Africa’s big draws.
‘People assume they’ve seen it all after a safari, but Madagascar has its own cast of characters they won’t find anywhere else,’ says Davidson. ‘The indri is the largest lemur and then there’s the fossa, which looks like something between a cat and a mongoose and is Madagascar’s answer to a big predator. The aye-aye is a little nocturnal lemur with huge eyes that most people have not even heard of.’
Davidson also points to the island’s east coast as a drawcard for clients travelling between June and September.
‘That’s peak humpback whale season around Île Sainte-Marie, and pairing whale watching with lemur spotting in the same trip is something clients don’t expect Madagascar to offer.’